Synopsis
The prominent historians featured in this collection of essays and interviews drawn from Historically Speaking comment on such wide-ranging topics as the impact of postmodernism on the field, the relationship between professional and popular history, the importance of historical consciousness, and the limitations of the field in its current state. A special feature of this volume is a lively forum on counterfactuals, the might-have-beens of history. The volume in general and the forum in particular illustrate the value of ongoing conversation between historians in advancing historical investigation and enriching debate and discussion within and beyond the academic setting.
Designed as an accessible point of entry for students and interested general readers, Recent Themes in Historical Thinking opens new vistas for understanding the methods of historiography. The contributors are Jeremy Black, David Cannadine, Robert Cowley, Richard J. Evans, Edward Ingram, Richard Ned Lebow, Joseph S. Lucas, John Lukacs, C. Behan McCullagh, William H. McNeill, Allan Megill, Gavriel Rosenfeld, Peter Seixas, Beverley Southgate, Willie Thompson, and Sam Wineburg.